Let's keep it clean for children, adults and employees
With the support of UNICEF and the Institute of Public Health, hygiene has been improved in Podgorica’s primary healthcare centres
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Podgorica, 1 July 2024 – Dragana Durković, a chosen doctor with 33 years of experience, has been the director of the Primary Healthcare Centre of the Capital City for the past six months. Throughout her decades-long work practice and, recently, as the head of the institution, she has noticed significant improvements in hygiene, waste disposal and water supply in the 13 primary healthcare centres in Podgorica.
“We keep it clean. We take care of the floors, the walls, the sanitation facilities and overall hygiene. As the head of the service, I monitor how things are being done so that we can improve everything and raise it to an even higher level,” Durković says.
She explains that, at all points in the primary healthcare centres, nurses familiar with the work process are assigned to handle and monitor waste. Each of them has a special stamp to verify properly disposed waste. Durković says everything is at a high level and under full control, which is necessary for safe working conditions and the safety of citizens.
When I was working as a doctor, I was not aware of the seriousness of this matter. Those yellow bins for packaging and measuring waste annoyed me. When I assumed a managerial position, I realized how significant and serious the matter was and that every preventive measure had to be taken
She points out that the most visible progress is in the domain of waste treatment. “I am very satisfied with how things look in that regard. Our waste management service operates at a very high level. We deal with various types of waste, even infectious waste. Control starts from where the waste is created, packing it into special containers and storing it until those responsible for transportation arrive. Even when the waste leaves our institution, we make sure to track where it goes. Imagine if infectious waste was disposed in a city landfill. It would be catastrophic.”
She also says citizens have not complained about hygiene in primary healthcare centres. She emphasizes that, at all points, there are facilities where citizens can disinfect their hands when entering and exiting the premises. However, she notes that it depends on how much they use them – it’s a matter of the health culture that citizens acquire in their homes.
Education is needed for citizens in every segment of healthcare. Personal hygiene must be maintained before visiting the primary healthcare centre or hospital. The level of health culture is very low – a lot of it is in the mentality, and that changes only with education
She explains that citizens leave many traces in centres – they discard pieces of paper, leave hand- and footprints on the walls, the restrooms are dirty... “They simply do not take care and do not behave as they would at home, although primary healthcare centres are public services and we all need them,” Durković concludes.
Assessment of the Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) status and adaptation of global protocols by UNICEF and WHO for cleaning facilities, training staff and for improving the knowledge and practices of employees in this area were conducted in primary healthcare centres in cooperation with the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro, and with the support of UNICEF and the Government of the Republic of Korea.
